Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Jharper]

So if I wasn't them to go broody I shouldn't collect the eggs?

That helps.

 

[Johnn]

At first I thought "what a good mother!" and then I thought "Why did the person not stop the dog?"

 

[chickydee64]

So if I wasn't them to go broody I shouldn't collect the eggs?

First..................................

...................and welcome to the thread.........................
Do you have a rooster??????????
You can leave a few eggs.if so, mark the date on them so you can keep track.........
Or you can put a few fake eggs or golf balls in the nest to help determine if they are broody..................
Good Luck...............

 

[Jharper]

At first I thought "what a good mother!" and then I thought "Why did the person not stop the dog?"

Wow! All my chickens, except for my bantams, are bigger than my little doxin.

 

[theshepherd]

[COLOR=008080]First..................................

...................and welcome to the thread.........................[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]Do you have a rooster??????????[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]You can leave a few eggs.if so, mark the date on them so you can keep track.........[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]Or you can put a few fake eggs or golf balls in the nest to help determine if they are broody..................[/COLOR] [COLOR=008080]Good Luck...............[/COLOR]

Thanks. I do have a rooster. How long can the eggs stay unattended till the hen starts sitting on it? And another similar question is how long can the egg sit around before I take it to eat?

 

[Jharper]

A week and a half for best fertility. Mark the day they were laid so you can take out the old ones of she don't go broody.

 

[Johnn]

 

[chickeneer45]

My incubator chicks are three weeks old now and every day it is like 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Is it too soon to let them into the coop? Or is it a good time?

 

[perchie.girl]

I am scared to be too optimistic but I have a cochin sitting on some eggs. One of them is a bonus egg the seller sent me along with my order. It is a peafowl egg. I just candled it and it has little veins! So excited. I am afraid to get to excited in case it doesn't hatch but I would be so thrilled if it did!

Oh How eggciting.... I believe Peafowl take longer to hatch so I hope you have an incubator ready to finish out the hatch. Peafowl take 28-30 days. Unless you put your peafowl egg in first by a week those chicken eggs are going to hatch at around day 21 possibly spanning about three days or so, and momma wont hang around for the peafowl. The good part is when the chicks finish hatching is about the time the Peafowl should be close to lock down. So you will have to either borrow an incubator or slip it under another broody.
If you dont have another broody this would be a good time to fire up the incubator make sure its ready to hatch an egg.

So if I wasn't them to go broody I shouldn't collect the eggs?

If you want them to go broody either leave the eggs or put in a couple of falsies like golf balls.
If its not too hot they are good in the nest till she has a good sized clutch. Probably three or four days. But the best way is to collect the eggs till you know she is broody. That way they dont go to waste and you can keep them in an environmentally controlled space to minimize their development till they are ready to be given back to the broody.

But unless you know your hen is or has gone broody in the past there is no guarantee that she will go broody. Some hens never go broody some go broody at the sight of an egg.... LOL. Some hens have been known to steal eggs to put in thier nest. I have heard of them slipping an egg under their wing to carry it from nest to nest. Stories told here by the way.... LOL.

The point is be patient maximize the potential with Falsies or sacrificial eggs (marked for removal later) Collect the fresh eggs and store them pointy end down which places the air cell in the egg at the top. Keep them in a place where the temps are around seventy degrees. Date every one. Toss them when they get to be around ten days old. They could still hatch but the probabilities get lower the older they get.

Oh and dont let those Marked eggs in the nest get much older than ten days either. Nothing stinkier than a rotten egg.

deb "who has collected and eaten eggs from the nest as old as four days"

 

[Jeniferl29]

Oh How eggciting....  I believe Peafowl take longer to hatch so I hope you have an incubator ready to finish out the hatch.  Peafowl take 28-30 days.  Unless you put your peafowl egg in first by a week those chicken eggs are going to hatch at around day 21 possibly spanning about three days or so, and momma wont hang around for the peafowl.  The good part is when the chicks finish hatching is about the time the Peafowl should be close to lock down.  So you will have to either borrow an incubator or slip it under another broody.
If you dont have another broody this would be a good time to fire up the incubator make sure its ready to hatch an egg.  
If you want them to go broody either leave the eggs or put in a couple of falsies like golf balls.
If its not too hot they are good in the nest till she has a good sized clutch.  Probably three or four days.  But the best way is to collect the eggs till you know she is broody.  That way they dont go to waste and you can keep them in an environmentally controlled space to minimize their development till they are ready to be given back to the broody.  

But unless you know your hen is or has gone broody in the past there is no guarantee that she will go broody.  Some hens never go broody some go broody at the sight of an egg.... LOL.  Some hens have been known to steal eggs to put in thier nest.  I have heard of them slipping an egg under their wing to carry it from nest to nest.  Stories told here by the way.... LOL.

The point is be patient maximize the potential with Falsies or sacrificial eggs (marked for removal later)  Collect the fresh eggs and store them pointy end down which places the air cell in the egg at the top.  Keep them in a place where the temps are around seventy degrees.  Date every one.  Toss them when they get to be around ten days old.  They could still hatch but the probabilities get lower the older they get.

Oh and dont let those Marked eggs in the nest get much older than ten days either.  Nothing stinkier than a rotten egg.

deb  "who has collected and eaten eggs from the nest as old as four days"

Thank you for the info. I had not thought about that. I would hate to get to the last week and have the chick die because the hen got up. I am going to borrow a friends incubator just in case.